How to old school Rapala, Giant and deformed melons, Costa winning baits

Today’s Top 5

Panda pig mule donkey melons of the week!

Joe-E M caught this 10-10 east TX melon on a silent Norman DD22 (sunfish) — a mere 10 minutes into a BassForecast peak feeding time period. Check this: He caught 4 of his 5 biggest (10.10, 8, 6.10, 6.8) during that same peak time period, which was 3:38 to 4:45…and 100+ degree air temps and awesomely humid:

“After a week at the Sabine, it’s nice to drop the Minn Kota in a place that actually has bass!”

Big bait buffet wins Barkley Costa.

Not sure if any baits are NOT used in Barkley/Kentucky lakes derbies, but it sure looks like “finesse” ain’t in the vocab of fishermen there. BUT last weekend’s FLW Costa Series tourney there did see some dropshottin’.

> 3 dudes from MO were in the top 10, includin’ Stacy King, who’s a-lookin’ and a-feeshn real good — GREAT to see:

Trip on these weird-shaped basses from planet bass.

Bass can be beautiful, but let’s face it — not all of ’em. So let’s launch off with this Camanche, CA spot Robert N caught apparently just after it ate a duck, a super-sized chili dawg, and a peanut buttah milkshake with extry chocolate chips:

One Johnny “the Missile” Crews spanked this “I wanna be a crappie or white bass for Halloween” largie on the Sabine:

Another Elitist caught this’n, not sure what to call it…maybe a derrrr?

Windin’ ‘er up with my fave shot of the week, from a guy with the last name FISH! Hit me with this pic from El Dorado Lake, KS — said, “Here’s a couple of derps for ya.”

HAHAHA love it! Also love that someone else is in the boat, so he’s pausin’ the feeshn day to take that goofy shot for the Blaster…!

Few more Hack Qs.

Just…can’t…do a 100% normal interview with these Elitists, and it’s twice as hard with Hackney cuz he likes to fun it up as much as I do — so here’s a few more Qs I asked him. First one is kinda serious:

1. Do you realize you seem to have an advantage when air temps are high? How hot does it have to be for you to win tournaments??

> “It’s funny, but [hot weather] doesn’t bother me. I like that hot weather. [At the Sabine] it was 80 degrees at 4:00 in the morning, in the dark. It can be too cold [for him], but it can’t be too hot.

> “At 12:30 to 3:00 it was so hot you could hardly breathe, and that’s when my confidence was at the highest. Typical summertime — the hotter it gets, the better. That’s when some of the biggest ones show up.”

2. Do you like Slurpees and what’s your favorite flavor?

> “Typically a pickle-flavored one is what I like after a long, hot day on the pond.

> “During practice I get a jar of pickles — I drink a third of a jar a day, and eat all the pickles too. [I laughed and he said] I really do that.

> “I don’t like those energy drinks. I’d rather just drink water.”

3. Why do you decide to win some tournaments and not others?

> “[Laughed] Because you can’t make that decision. I have no control over that, that’s the problem. Because if I did, everybody would quit. If I could control when I won, it would be over.”

> “The T-H Marine Eliminator trolling motor nut really silences the trolling motor. I run a MotorGuide trolling motor, which is already quiet, but you put that nut on it and it completely silences it. I fished the same fish over and over. When you’re fishing a ditch 20′ wide making 10′ casts you will be close to the fish and need to be silent.

> …discovered a deeper pattern when he caught 2 quality bass on a BX Brat squarebill in about 5-6′ during the 3-day practice….

> “My primary decision…going to fish deeper than everybody. So I fished on the outside of the trees, dropshot and shakey head…up and down this canal until I knew it by heart, throwing a shaky head…just trying to fish slow….

Name still cracks me up. New website is here. I’m starting a new organization called “Baitfish netters for crankbaiters and swimbaiters in most water types except swamps but no offense to swamp peeps.”

I get what Yamaha is doing with this — good intentions — but man it just seems odd. Getting bass fishermen involved in red snappers, longline fishing and saltwater laws seems like a pretty far stretch, don’t it?

Tip of the Day

Caught a TON of fish on what’s now called the Original Floating Minnow when I was a kid. Then I stopped throwing it cuz I got smarter than I needed to be about baits (lol) and also stopped using spinning gear, which could cast that light balsa bait. But Elitist Bernie Schultz still fishes it, I’m 100% sure it still catches ’em so here’s how you do it:

> “Throw it out there and wait for the impact rings to dissipate. Then twitch it a couple times and let it float back up and sit. The idea is to get movement without the bait moving forward, and keep it in the strike zone. That’s the key — 90% of the strikes happen when the bait’s sitting almost still on the surface, or when you first move it after it’s been paused.”

> If your lake map shows a significant dropoff…you can tempt clear-water smallmouth up from the depths by twitching an Original Floating Rapala on the surface. Cast past the dropoff and slowly work the bait back towards the edge, pausing between twitches. With even a light breeze to disrupt the water surface, this tactic can be effective any time of day. Vary the length of your pauses between twitches until you determine what will drive the bass to attack.

> For the best results, fish it on a 6′ 10″ to 7′ 2″ M to ML spinning rod. If you’ll be fishing mostly shallow…spool up with 10-lb Sufix Elite mono….

I only fished silver/black back and it caught literally everything. And I also just reeled it in cuz what else are you supposed to do??

So if those aren’t normal to you and me, then they must be normal to the Elites, which means…not sure but I bet Jeff Kriet would have a logical explanation…which wouldn’t be normal either….

Shot of the Day

If you’re fortunate to land a job in the fishing biz, here’s what you can look forward to doing every dang day! The Rapala crew….

Actually, a well-known saying in the fishing biz is once you’re in, you fish less….

Ya got me

Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup

of the best, worst and funniest in bassin’, as curated by me — Jay Kumar. I started BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a bunch more in bassin’. The Blaster is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass so thanks for readin’!

The best, worst and funniest in bassin'! Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin™. Make sure you sign up for the BassBlaster email!